EMILY MENO - 5 yo (2010) - Grand Rapids MI

Joy Heaven, who in August rejected a plea deal in
the death of her 5-year-old foster daughter,
entered a no contest plea
Monday, the day her trial was to start.



The girl, Emily Meno, died July 17, 2010 of a traumatic brain injury.
An autopsy revealed she died from head trauma after being hit with something hard. Heaven
was formally charged with murder while committing child abuse.
On
August 31, she was offered a deal to plead guilty to second-degree
murder.
But her attorney said she was not willing to accept the offer at
that time. Just as her trial was about to begin Monday, she
pleaded no contest to second-degree murder.
A no contest plea is not an
admission of guilt, but is treated as such for sentencing. Her bond was revoked and she was taken into custody to await sentencing.
http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/local/kent_county/Heaven-pleads-in-foster-daughter-death

The mother of a Cedar Springs girl killed by a foster parent is both
relieved and disappointed buy the woman's no contest plea to murder charges.


Foster mother, Joy Heaven

Joy Heaven, 30, entered her plea Monday morning just before she was
to stand trial in Kent County Circuit Court for killing five-year-old
Emily Meno while the child was in her care last July.
Lori Meno, the murdered child's mother, says she is relieved there is
now no possibility a jury will find the killer not guilty. Yet she is
also disappointed because, under the plea agreement, Joy Heaven will
someday be eligible for parole.
"I just want justice for my little girl," says Meno. "She was an innocent victim."
Lori Meno's five-year-old developmentally disabled twins, Emily and
Tiffany, were Joy Heaven's first assignment as a paid foster parent.
She told police she pushed Emily after the child wet the bed and interfered with the care of her sister.
"She smashed her," says Lori Meno. "Threw her on the floor and she hit her head against the wall or on the kitchen floor."
The foster parent faces 15 to 35 years in prison.
Lori Meno will have an opportunity to confront the woman before she is sent away to prison.
"Only thing I want to say to her is why did she do it," says Meno. "Why did she have to kill my little girl?"
The twins were temporarily taken from Lori Meno a year ago to give her time to improve her parenting skills.
Meno says she is working to regain custody of Tiffany.
http://www.wzzm13.com/news/article/154462/14/Woman-pleads-in-foster-child-murder-case